This invention relates to an improved, stuffed-ribbon cartridge for use in business machines.
A stuffed-ribbon cartridge is of the type which usually has about 15 yards of inked ribbon formed into an endless loop which is stuffed into the cartridge to form a plurality of random convolutions or folds of ribbon therein. The cartridge forms a means for supplying fresh ribbon to a print station in a business machine in which the cartridge is used and for quickly changing the ribbon in the machine without ever having to manipulate or touch the ribbon by hand.
Some ribbon cartridges representative of the prior art shown in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,758,012, 3,814,231, 3,830,351 and 3,863,749.
One of the problems with prior art ribbon cartridges is that the strand of ribbon exiting from the exit area of the cartridge will drag therewith several convolutions of ribbon. If enough convolutions of ribbon jam up at the exit area, the exit area can become clogged, causing the tension on the ribbon being pulled out of the cartridge to increase, resulting in possible fraying or breaking of the ribbon.
Another problem with prior art cartridges is that very often, the particular fold or convolution of ribbon which is being pulled out of the exit area of the ribbon storage compartment is connected to some folds of ribbon which are located at the entrance area of the compartment due to the random stuffing of the ribbon therein, thereby placing the ribbon being pulled out of the exit area under an undue amount of tension which also causes fraying or breaking of the ribbon.
The cartridge of the present invention obviates the problems mentioned in the previous paragraph in that it has a specially designed storage compartment not shown in the prior art which facilitates the flow of the ribbon therethrough. The storage compartment is in the general shape of a kidney, and its particular design enables the folds of the ribbon being stuffed into the compartment to flow smoothly around an outer curved wall of the compartment and then approach the exit area of the compartment. By this construction, those folds of the ribbon which are to be exited from the compartment are located close to the exit area thereof; and consequently, the tension on the ribbon which is being exited from the compartment is considerably less than what it is on prior art constructions. As a result, the length of ribbon which can be stored in the compartment in the illustrated embodiment of the invention is about 22 to 25 yards compared to comparable prior art cartridges which store about 16 yards of ribbon.